john avanzini

7/29/2019 John Avanzini

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BIRDS, ROOTS,WEEDS AND THE

GOOD GROUNDTHE PARABLE OF THE SOWER

Dr. John F. Avanzini


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Copyright 1980 John F. Avanzini

All Rights Reserved Under This Title or Any Other Title

ISBN 0-941117-06-5

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing - 25,000, 1980

Second Printing - 25,000, 1986

Third Printing - 5,000, 1987


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The Parable of the SowerThe Parable of the Sower is a very familiar one which anyone

who has studied the Word of God will quickly recognize. It is arather simple illustration of a very complex spiritual truth.

The importance of this subject becomes evident when we

realize just how complex the environment of any living thing is.

My dictionary defines environment as "all of the surrounding

conditions and influences that affect the development of a living

thing". It is obvious that a person's character is influenced by his

environment. Differences in environment often account forirregularities in plants of the same species. Given the proper

environment, as opposed to a hostile environment, one plant will

thrive while another will wither. The Parable of the Sowerthe story

that Jesus told in the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, is an

illustration of the effect spiritual environment has on a "good seed's"

growth and fruitfulness.

Mark 4:1-20

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Chapter 1

Environment Is the Key toGrowth

When we look around us today, we can see that there is a great

deal of concern about our environment. Those in the construction

industry, as well as those seeking to buy new homes, are keenly

aware of environmental problems. Probably a third of the cost of a

new home is related to environmental protection. Environmental

conditions have become a very important consideration in selecting a

home.

In the Parable of the Sower, we read about the seed and are told

that the seed is the Word of God. Normally, seeds are planted in dirt.

The Bible tells us that Adam was "The Dirt Man" and that he wasformed from the dust of the earth. Here God brings the gospel to

Adam in the form of seed. The very word "seed" is a translation of

the Greek word "spora", which means "sperm". So we see that the

"sperm" of God is spread about the human race. When it falls on the

ground of our heart, if the environment is good, the seed will grow.

When we begin to closely examine what we read in the Parable

of the Sower, we become aware that the parable is simply telling usabout different environmental problems and how each affects the

fruitfulness of plants. We now realize just how much environment

has to do with the growth of seed.

The parable tells us about one environmental problem known as

birds. Farmers are often troubled with birds. The use of scarecrows

and different types of noise-making devices in their fields help to

prevent birds from eating the seed. Birds are often considereddevastating to the farmer!

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A healthy environment is the controlling factor in the kind of

growth a plant will have and in the production and quality of its fruit.

There are various environmental factors that influence a plant's

growth and production of fruit. If you plant a tree in a hostile

environment, it will quickly wither and die. The cause could be too

much or too little sunlight, food or water. In the bathroom at home, Ihave a fern hanging over the bathtub. It looks very attractive there,

but it exists in a hostile environment. Because it lacks something

vital to growth, it is not doing well there.

ROOTS ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO ENVIRONMENT

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THE HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT


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There is a little worm known as the cutworm who lives

underground. It is a part of the environment. When it gets into your

fields it goes almost unnoticed, but suddenly the plants just fall over.

Actually, cutworms move around underneath the ground, and when

they reach a root, they cut it. They don't seem to eat it alljust a

section of it, but they thoroughly destroy the crops. The cutworm

adversely affects the ability of the roots to supply the plant with thenourishment it needs to survive.

WEEDS ARE PART OF THE HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT

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There are many destructive weeds. When you have weeds in

your garden you have a very poor garden. When my family lived in

St. Petersburg, Florida, we, as real estate developers, would buy

grapefruit and orange orchards and turn them into subdivisions for

housing. The fruit trees were weed infested and would yield small,skimpy, sour, fruit. Waist high weeds and vines grew all over those

trees and they looked terrible! There is nothing more disorderly than

an orchard that has been taken over by weeds.

The people who moved into the newly built homes cut down the

weeds and the vines. The remaining fruit grew strong again. My wife

and I often ate the fruit from those trees for our breakfast. Those

same orchards that had been so run down and weed inundated nowproduced beautiful fruit. With the hostile environment of weeds

gone, the trees again became fruitful.

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Chapter 2

Birds, Roots, Weeds and theGood Ground

The parable of the sower tells us about good seed that fell on

good ground, and began to bring forth some thirty, some sixty, and

some a hundred fold.

Turning to Mark 4:3, we read: "Behold, there went out a sower

to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side,

and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on

stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it

sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:

But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it hadno root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the

thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell

on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased;

and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some a hundred

fold."

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If you look further to the 14th verse, Jesus explains what the

seed in the parable meant. He said, The sower soweth the word. Wefind that the seed of this parable is the Word of God.

And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but

when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away

the word that is sown in their hearts. This part of the parable I refer

to as the action of "birds" on the good seed that is sown.

And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground;

who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it withgladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a

time afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's

sake, immediately they are offended. This part of the parable I refer

to as the weakness of a poor root system.

And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear

the word, And the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches,

and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and itbecometh unfruitful. These are the unproductive seeds which I refer

to as being destroyed by "weeds".

And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as

hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirty fold,

some sixty and some a hundred. I interpret the term "good ground" as

meaning an orderly, controlled environment conducive to the growth

and multiplication of the "seed".

"BIRDS"

The first truth we grasp as we do an environmental study of

Mark 4:15, is that the environment which is first mentioned to us is

where the seed devouring birds live.

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Now as we follow this verse of scripture, we realize that Jesus

used the plural"birds". In His explanation to the disciples, Jesus

said that Satan doesn't come to each and every individual on the

planet every time he deals with them. We know that he uses

principalities, powers, and wicked spirits as well as armies ofdemons to work for and with him.

It is true that the devil is called 'The Thief'. Think with me a

moment. What does a thief do? He steals! After being robbed, you

are impoverished!

Many times we find that when people are impoverished by Satan

they turn around to the very one who is the giver, our great God, and

they say, "Lord, why have you done this to me?"They ignorantly say, "Well, I guess God wants me to be poor, I

guess God wants me to have bad health, or I guess God just wants

me to do without."

The Bible doesn't teach that God wants you to do without. On

the contrary, he wants you to have many wonderful things!

Remember, child of God, the devil is the one who has come to steal

from you, and to take things away from you. Remember what weread in the second chapter of the Book of Revelation, "Hold fast that

which thou hast."

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Living on Planet Earth is much like being out on tour in a

foreign country. As you come near the market place, your guide will

turn to you and say, "Hold on to your pocketbook. There are

pickpockets in this market." As a result, you go through the market

with your hand in your pocket so that your pocketbook won't be

taken.

Dear friend, while you're walking around on Planet Earth, hold

fast to your pocketbook because the devil is trying to steal everything

that God wants you to have. We come to find that this thievery

these Satanic 'birds'are totally and absolutely against you and the

things of God. Seeking to rob you, they will stop at nothing to take

what is yours. They must be controlled.

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`BIRDS' COME IN MANY FORMS

Have you ever noticed that when you try to witness to someone

about Jesus, something often happens. You begin by saying,"I'd like

to tell you. . ." Suddenly their phone rings.

They answer, "Oh! Uncle George! You're coming to visit us.

You haven't come here in years." Then they turn to you and say,"You will have to excuse me, because Uncle George is coming. I

really want to hear what you have to say, but it will have to be some

other time." That's the devil sending those 'birds' to steal the Word of

God.

Now, we know that the Bible talks about a shaking in the last

days. I maintain that one of the things the shaking will do is to shake

those 'birds' out of our trees! You must get this firmly in your mindthat when you go into the farming business of God, planting the

good seed of God, you need to see to it that the 'birds' are kept away

from that good seed.

WHEN YOU SEE THE BIRDS, DON'T SHOW THEM THE

SEED

I have had people ask me after a brief encounter with a lostperson, "Why didn't you witness to that man or to that woman? How

come you didn't tell them about Jesus?"

Dear friend, realize that it isn't always conducive to tell a person

about Jesus. Sometimes it is better to be kind to that person, and let

him see Christ in you.

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Let me explain further. I've watched people going up in an

elevator. A rider will push the button for the third floor. So up we go

floor one, floor two, floor three. A Christian will start witnessingto this person who is only going to the third floor! That is not the

time for a long, drawn-out testimony. You may have a `bird' sitting

on the third floor waiting to steal the seed. Instead, leave a tract with

him and always leave a smile with him. You could tell him how

much God really loves him.

You don't have to have a closing every time you witness. There

are times when you should just 'water' some. The seed may alreadyhave been planted and be hiding under the soilawaiting some

water so it can grow! Rememberone plants, one waters, God gives

the increase.

Salesmen know that you can't close every deal, every time.

Sometimes you have to wait for a better day. There may be a 'bird'

sitting there trying to sell another product, and each time you bring

up something about your producthe brings up an objection. Thething to do is wait until the opposition is removed. Then get back to

your prospect and bring him to Christ without the threat of the 'birds'

stealing the seed. You must watch for 'birds', because 'birds' present

a hostile environment to growth.

OPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL EYES

Simply open your spiritual eyes and you will see 'birds' sitting

or flying all about the room. These 'birds' have come to steal! Think

of it, spiritual 'buzzards' are looking you over right now, as you read!

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Please look at Matthew :13. This will amaze you! Do you want

to know where the 'birds' stay? Starting Matthew 13:31, the Bible

tells of another parable Jesus put forth unto them.

The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which

a man took and sowed in his field. Which indeed is the least of all

seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and

becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the

branches thereof.

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Do you want to know where the 'birds' are hanging around? The

'birds' are in the tree of the kingdom. They are hanging around our

ministries to steal the seed when we sow it. A wise farmer will see to

it that the 'birds' are under control in the place where he is sowing.

Don't think that just because you go to church there will be no

'birds' there. I've heard some people say, "Evil spirits at the church?

Never!" Mark my words, the 'birds' hang around in the tree of the

kingdom! I am convinced that there are not nearly as many spirits

down at the neighborhood bar as there are around the church!Remember'birds' steal the Word of God when it's planted in the

hearts of the people.

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Chapter 3

The Root System

Not only do we have to take care of the 'birds' that are up in the

air, but we have to be very careful about the root system under the

ground. There must be a proper environment for the root system.

Romans 11:18 says that the root bears the tree, not that the tree bearsthe root. When you see a tree, it is standing there because of the root

system.

As with every building that is going to be built, before you can

design the 20th floor, you must design a twenty floor foundation

under it. There has to be a root system under the building to

support those twenty floors. There cannot be vital, ongoing, fruitful

life without a good root system.

What does Jesus say? He says that you wash the outside of the

cup and leave the inside dirty! It is painfully obvious that the greater

part of Christianity is lived for people to see from the outside rather

than for what is going on, on the inside.

The average Christian today could not stand an inspection of

what is going on behind closed doors. He could not stand to have his

root systems looked at because most Christians have a root system

that is rotten, full of sickness, completely decayed and decrepit. Wehave become used to polishing only the outside of the cup.

Wake up, Christian! You can't build any kind of a quality

Christian life that has a rotten and decaying root system under it! If

your Christianity won't stand up behind closed doors, you had better

understand that it won't stand up behind the closed doors of the

judgment of God.

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An essential part of the environment of a good Christian life is a

sound and solid root system. It's the root system that feeds the tree.

What does our parable say? It says that there was not root under

some of the bushes. When they sprang forth, they sprang forth with

nothing more than leaves and produced no fruit.

Listed here are some basic building exercises for Christians.

1. Learning the basic foundation truths from God's word.

a) The blood atonement.

b) The fact that Christ is risen and will return.

c) The overcoming power that is in the name of Jesus and in

prayer.

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CHRISTIAN ROOT SYSTEM


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2. Not forsaking the assembling of yourself with the Church of God

in order to worship and fellowship with believers.

3. Continuous Bible study, both personal and in groups.

4. Building your faith with constant prayer and fellowship with

Jesus as 'Lord and Master' of every facet of your life.

5. Obedience to God's Word and personal involvement in fulfilling

the directive of The Great Commissionto go into all the world

and preach the Gospel to every living personbecome a living

witness for Jesus and to get personally involved in the

salvation of souls.

LEAFY TREES BEARING NO FRUIT?

Have you ever seen the leafy Christians? If you were to pack

them in a rocket and shoot them to the moon, there is nothing in the

Kingdom of God that would stop functioning because of their

absence. There's not one little Sunday School child who would not

be taught, nor one offering that wouldn't be taken. There's not one

less person who would get the gospel. They do absolutely nothing

but bear leaves. Many times those leaves are so pretty that shallowpeople will say, "Oh, if I could only be like them."

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I want to tell you something about Jesus. Jesus is not looking

for shade! He is looking for fruit! Bring to remembrance what

happened when Jesus met the fruitless fig tree that had only leaves.

When Jesus came and saw the tree with leaves only, He said,

"Why are you covering the ground, you cursed bush? Never againwill you bear fruit." And it withered and died.

Many say, "Preacher, you have to understand. I'm leafy!" But

friend God is not looking for shade. God is looking for fruit! The

truth is that many times some seemingly insignificant little saint in

some Sunday School classseeing about the matters of the

Kingdomtaking care of the vineyardis more valuable to God

than some of the leafiest of saints.

LEAFY PRIMA DONNAS

Often our churches are filled with prima donnas who move

along in the leaf realm. How different is the appearance of a tree that

is really bearing fruit! Once I noticed a small tree at a friend's house.

You should have seen it! That tree was so laden with fruit that it had

sticks under its limbs to hold them up. It had hardly any leaves at all,but was heavy with fruit. Some of the limbs had even broken under

the weight of the fruit it borebut what a tree! It bore fruitfruit

fruit! Praise God for those little trees that bear fruit instead of only

leaves.

I have found this to be all too true: you can get anybody to be a

prima donna. There's a waiting list to get to be a prima donna! But

there's not a waiting list of people to clean the building. There's

always a waiting list for people to sing 'Specials', but there doesn't

seem to be a waiting list for joining the choir. There's always

someone who wants the upper seat, but it's a real problem to get

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enough people to do the teaching in the Sunday school. You can

always get people to sit at the tables, but it's a problem to get people

to wait on those tables. There's only one in a hundred who will go

out to knock on doors and ask those unreached people if they want

Jesus.Don't misunderstand me. Often Prima Donnas will work for

Christ if you supply them with a nice room and gather a large crowd

so that they can witnessbut for them to go out on the highways and

byways and compel the lost to come to Christthe leafy saints are

beyond that!

But Glory to God! God is not fooled by leaves. He proved that

when he came to the fig tree. One must either produce or be witheredand removed from the vineyard.

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Chapter 4

Do Not Grow a Garden ofWeeds

You have to keep weeds out of the garden. Weeds steal the

moisture. Do you know what weeds are a sign of? Weeds are a sign

of a lack ofdominion over your environment.

My yard was eaten up with weeds. I had a bumper crop of

weeds and I had to get rid of them. I was not responsible for all the

weeds in the world, but only the weeds in my yard. There needs to be

government in your yard. Get rough with the weeds. Tell them, "You

weed! How dare you grow here! Get out!" There's a place for weeds

and that place is outside the fence!

Likewise, inside the Kingdom of God the weeds rob the

moisture from the earth. They choke the Word of God.

I have always liked to shake hands with everyone at the church.

But now I'm beginning to understand why some preachers do not do

this. I get attacked with all kinds of problems, problems, problems

weeds, weeds, weeds!

When I have come to exhort, I don't want a mouthful of weeds.

I don't want weeds in my ears and weeds in my coat. I don't want to

be weedy! I want to be seedyevery time I come to the pulpit.

Often I am attacked by Christians who have allowed weeds to

grow in their gardens. These Christians have now become fruitless

and want to act like something is wrong with the seed.

Friend, it is not the seed. Remember that the seed is the good

Word of God. The problem is the wild growth of weeds in your

garden. They're choking the plantsand causing them to become

fruitless.

YOU WERE NOT CREATED TO WORRY

In the Gospel according to Saint Mark, Jesus speaks of the cares

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of this world. Do you know what the cares of the world are? Worry!

Notice the voice of worry"Oh, I don't know what I'm going to

do. Income tax time is coming. The payment is due on the car. I'm

worried to death!"

Worry is a weed in your garden. God has not created you to

worry. He has not given you a spirit of fear. Fear to a man is like

trying to run water trough a diesel engine. It won't work!

I had an ulcer when I was 21 years old and was rather proud of

it. At 21, I had already worried like a big shot. Worry is not one of

the signs of a mature son of God.

If you go deer hunting, you look for deer droppings. I won't go

into that too far, but there are rabbit droppings and there are deer

droppings. At the end of the trail of rabbit droppings, don't expect to

find a deer. However, at the end of the trail of deer droppings there

will be a deer. If you are running around worrying you are not

showing one of the signs of the Saint of God. The Saint of God

doesn't leave a trail of worry everywhere he goes. Whatever the

situation, the mature son of God knows he's safe with the Father!

Another weed God talks about in the scriptures is thedeceitfulness of riches. There has been some beautiful teaching done

across America about prosperity, but there is also something

deceitful about it. When a man takes riches unto his own self, for his

own benefit and to the exclusion of the benefit of the Kingdom of

God, they will be of very little benefit to him. Riches will very

quickly become weeds.

Don't misunderstand me. God wants you to be prosperous. Thereason he wants you to be prosperous is so that you can walk 'The

Love Walk'. This means that when you meet someone who has a

need, you will be able to bless that person by meeting his need. God

meant financial blessings to be part of the Christian life. Praise the

Lord!

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Chapter 5

The Treasures from theGood Ground

What do you find to be unique about good ground? Good

ground iscontrolled ground

. You have control of the birds. You

make sure that everything is conducive to good root growth and you

have control of the weeds. Now that you have the ground prepared,

Jesus will come and He will give the increase!

This is why you find some pastors who live very godly lives,

who serve the Lord, and who pastor only one hundred or so people.

Praise God for that! This is not their decision. This is the Lord's

decision. Remembersome thirty, some sixty, some a hundred.

Always keep in mind that one plants, one waters, but God gives theincrease. That is why there are some men who have ministries that

reach hundreds of thousands of people. They have a controlled

environment. They have weeded the garden. They've gotten rid of

the 'birds' and the bad environment. They don't allow the weeds to

grow. Such a person says, "Lord, I am ready to serve you. If you

want me to pastor twenty people, I'm ready to do it. If you want me

to pastor twenty thousand people, I'll pastor twenty thousand people.Lord, you set the pace for me. I'll plant, I'll water, but only you,

Lord, can give the increase."

God can use a submissive man to reach tens of thousands

millions of people. Many will come to the Lord through such a man.

Listen to what the Bible says. "Are you not still babes?"Aren't

you still just a little baby? That's what the scripture says. Are you on

milklittle old milkweed Christians? The Bible says, "Aren't youcarnal?"Don't you realize that after the patch is weeded and roots

take hold, that God is the one who gives the increase. Never become

confused on this point. God gives the increases.

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When you see a small church where there is a faithful pastor

who is preaching the Word of God and living the Life, you shouldn't

go in with an arrogant attitude or with a critical spirit as to the size of

that church. God is giving the increasenot that pastor. Good

ground brings forth much fruitsome thirty, some sixty, some one

hundred fold.

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Chapter 6

What Is Your Secret, BrotherJohn

Many people come to me and ask, "What's the secret of your

ministry's success, Brother John?" My secret is that I wake up

excited. I wake up every morning drunk on the Spirit of God and

with anticipation of what God is doing for me and for the faithful in

my congregation. I know pastors who are involved in many more

activities than I am. I just read "The Book" and preach "The Word."

People keep coming in, getting saved, and growing stronger and

more fruitfulsome thirty, some sixty, and some one hundred fold. I

keep the 'birds' and 'weeds' under control, the root system in order,

and God gives the increase.Now take special notice, dear friend. If you will set your

environment in order and walk forth from this time in the truth of

God with the 'weeds' cleared from the garden, your root system deep

in God's Word and the birds gone, you may bring forth up to one

hundred fold. However, if you bring forth only thirty fold, that is a

very good increase.

"One plants and one waters, but God gives the increase." Allwe have to do is maintain the right environment, get rid of the 'birds'

and 'weeds', and keep the roots strong. God promises the increase.

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Chapter 7

The Spiritual Eye Sees

I wonder if you could get the picture of how your environment

looks now. The Bible says, "Beware your adversary, like a roaring

lion, walking about seeking whom he may devour."Within the spirit

world, in your midst, there is a lion walking about seeking todevour you!

At this very moment, all around you, there are big 'buzzards'

flying around. There are 'birds' waiting to steal your seeds. There are

'weeds' attempting to come up all around you. They want to confuse

the issue, strangle your spiritual growth, and render you fruitless.

I am acutely aware of these 'birds'! They may be telling you that

this message is really for the 'birds' ... but I can see Satan's workcan you?

Jesus died for the sins of the world and He wants to save you.

He wants to give you everlasting life, make you a new creature,

remove you from the generation of Adam and put you into the

Kingdom of His dear Son. He wants you to stop being a lost person

and to start being a new creation in Christ Jesus. However, in spite of

all this, the devil is sitting there like a 'bird'. He is waiting for the

seed to hit your heart so he can devour it, foul the root system, orchoke the growth with 'weeds' and make you fruitless.

Keep a good environmentone ready to bring forth a great

thirty, sixty, hundred fold harvest to God, as He gives the increase.

My prayer is that God will bless you, in this endeavor.

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john avanzini

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